Combination film processing drier viewer



H E. HACKEY Aug. 8, 1967 COMBINATION FILM PROCESSING DRIER VIEWER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept.

FIGI' Y m e TA W H V E N T R M Du E H Z W 5 6 0 Z A TTORNEYS Aug. 8, 1967 H. E. HACKEY COMBINATION FILM PROCESSING DRIER VIEWER Filed Sept. 18, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. HERBERT E. HA CKEY A TTORNEYS United States Patent 3,334,565 COMBINATION FILM PROCESSING DRIER VIEWER Herbert E. Hackey, San Francisco, Calif, assignor to Mark Systems, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif. Filed Sept. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 397,598 Claims. (Cl. 95-89) This invention relates to an apparatus for drying and spooling film and mat material carrying photographic images subsequent to processing.

Specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus for processing photographic materials related to a process or technique developed by Eastman Kodak Company and referred to as the Bimat Process.

The aforesaid process employs a photographic type film which is run through a camera and exposed in the conventional manner. The film is then joined under pressure to a second film called a mat which is impregnated with chemicals that are jelly-like or semi-fluid state on the mat. The chemicals cause the photographic film to develop to form a negative image on the film. At the same time a positive image is formed on the mat by the diffusion transfer method. Conventionally in the aforesaid system the mat and the film are rolled together under pressure onto a spool so that the developing or processing step occurs simply by spooling the mat and the film together on a single spool. When film of substantial length is employed in the aforesaid process, such as for example motion picture or aero-photography type film materials there is an inherent problem of unwinding or separating the mat and film due to their rather great lengths. It is undesirable to separate the film and mat and then immediately roll each of the materials on separate rollers or spools while they are still in a Wet state. Such procedure will cause damage to the materials and images. On the other hand it is extremely cumbersome to unwind the materials and store the respective film and mat in unwound condition to allow drying because of the time and space requirements that would normally be encountered.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide an apparatus which is adapted to unspool and separate the two materials after they have been wound onto a processing spool and to pass them through a drying chamber of relatively small dimension and to thereafter wind the respective materials on separate reels in a dry condition.

It is a further object of this invention to provide in said apparatus an arrangement whereby the images on both the film and the mat may be observed during the drying phase of operation and prior to spooling so that monitoring of the film before spooling can be expected.

The mat material is formed with a thickness somewhat greater than the thickness of the film. Furthermore, the mat material is normally more saturated with liquid material than the film. For these two reasons it is appreciably more diflicult to dry the mat than the film. The present invention incorporates provision for allowing the film and mat to be drawn simultaneously from a single spool and with concurrent means for winding the material in a dried condition substantially simultaneously onto separate spools by providing apparatus to provide a greater drying capacity for the mat than for the film, so that even though the two materials pass through the drier at the same rate one is subjected to an environment to effect a more rapid drying rate than the other. The aforesaid mat material, also because of its greater thickness when wound onto a take-up spool, creates an enlargement of take-up spool diameter at a greater rate than the film. Consequently, an object of the invention is to provide an apparatus to aiford a solution to the aforesaid problem by providing means for establishing a differential of spool rotation rate as between the film take-up and the mat take-up spools.

A feature and advantage of the aforesaid apparatus is in the affording of a solution to the also inherent problem of the film and mat being wound on the processing spool on effectively different radii. This subtle but real problem is incurred because the two materials overlay each other on the processing spool. Thus, the outer of the two materials on the single spool will pass around a larger diameter than the inner of the two materials. Thus, when unwound, the outer material will have a greater length per revolution than the inner material. This effect is further complicated by the fact that the mat material is of larger cross section or thickness than the film. As above stated the apparatus of this invention has as one of its features and advantages the solution to the aforesaid problem.

Another object and advantage of this invention is to provide a greater differential of drying capacity in one chamber over that obtained in a second chamber by the simple but unobvious expedient of providing airflow through the first chamber which is entered in a heated and dry condition so that it passes the dampened mat material to cause evaporation and liquid absorption in the airflow stream, thereby increasing its liquid content and to some extent causing a cooling of the airflow stream. The airflow stream thence passing to the second chamber both because of its increased humidity and lower temperature provides a lesser drying capacity in the second chamber but nevertheless is sufficiently effective to cause the drying of the film within the time interval allocated for passage of the film onto its take-up spool.

Another object and advantage of this invention is in the provision of a spacial relationship incurred in the splitting or separating of the two materials from their processing spool at such an angle as to prevent disruption of the images formed on the two materials.

Other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the detailed description in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the drier viewer of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional top plan view;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing film and mat being unspooled of its processing reel;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a clutch mechanism suitable for the use with the subject device; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the details of the viewing apparatus.

The device of this invention comprises a main housing A in which a spool receiving mechanism is arranged to receive a processing spool 15 in the area indicated at B. The film and mat material carried by the processing reel 15 is thence reeled into a mat drying chamber C and a film drying chamber D in which both the film and the mat in opposite directions are travelled over stretches past viewing stations 20 and 21 to the mat take-up reel 23 and the film take-up reel 24. A drive mechanism 26 is arranged to drive both the mat and film take-up reels 23 and 24. In this apparatus a blower and heating manifold 28 is arranged to blow air into chamber C and thence through chamber C into chamber D to an exhaust manifold 29 which is arranged to receive the exhaust gas from drying chamber D. The process reel receiving area, while shown in the drawings as being adapted to receive a reel, may be arranged to receive film magazines such as used in aircraft cameras where the magazine assembly itself will function as the processing reel holder. For purpose of simplicity, however, the principal embodiment of the present invention is shown with the reel 15 being mounted in the film drying assembly in area B. In the application of the Bimat process, film 30 is exposed in a conven-' tional type camera and in the conventional manner. After exposure the film is spooled onto the processing reel together with mat 31 which has been previously impregnated with a developing solution. At the time of joining of the two materials onto the processing spool a pressure roller is applied to create a compact union between the two materials, i.e. mat 31 and film 30. Thereafter, the developer functions to develop the negative film 30 and in the same process creates a positive image on the mat by the diffusion transfer process.

The present device is adapted to separate film 30 and mat 31, dry them and allow each of the film materials to be spooled onto the mat take-up spool 23 and film take-up spool 24. Drying of the film and mat occurs in the two chambers C and D while the materials are being transported from the processing reel to the respective take-up spools. During the instant of transfer, viewing of the developed images on both the mat and the film is made possible through the two viewing stations and 21 which is detailed in FIG. 5. The film is arranged to pass from the processing reel 15 over a film separating roller 33 mounted within the film drying chamber D. A similar mat separating roller 34 is arranged within the mat drying chamber C to receive the separated mat within the chamber. The film is thence transported in straight stretch to a guide roller 35 on the opposite end of drying chamber D and thence back to a return spool 36, whence it travels upwardly to an upper spindle 37 located adjacent the top of chamber D past the film viewing station 21 to a guide roller 38 and thence onto film take-up reel 24. In similar fashion the mat is travelled to a guide roller 40 on the far end of drying chamber C and thence to a return roller 41 up to guide roller 42 and thence past the mat viewing station 20 to a guide roller 43 and thence to mat take-up spool 23. The film and the mat are moved by rotation of the two r'eels or spools 23 and 24 caused by the power supply 26 through pulley system 45 comprising a sheave 46 which drives a film spooling belt 47 and a mat spooling belt 48. The two belts 47 and 48 are arranged to drive similar sheaves 49 and 50 on the film and mat spools 24 and 23, respectively.

As can be seen specifically in FIG. 3, the mat is formed of somewhat thicker material than the film. As a consequence of the mats greater dimension there will be a faster diameter build-up on the mat take-up spool 23 than on the film take-up spool 24. As a consequence of this factor the rate of rotation of the film take-up spool 24 must be made to rotate at a progressively greater rate of rotation than the film take-up spool 24. This can be accomplished by causing the sheave ratio between sheaves 46 and 49 to be such that the film spool will travel at a faster rate of rotation than the mat spool and by connecting a clutch mechanism, such as seen in FIG. 4, to the film take-up spool so that the basic drive for the system will be in the drive of the mat, and the film will be carried on a yieldable slip clutch or friction relationship, thus ensuring that both the film and mat are kept in a substantially taught position throughout their transport.

As a second alternative, both the film and mat spools 24 and 23 can be driven in a similar pulley relationship. In such case the slip clutch assembly, as seen in FIG. 4, would be placed on the mat spool 23 and the essential drive for the system would be through the film. In either event the slip clutch, such as shown in FIG. 4, would provide slippage of one or the other take-up spools 23 or 24 to allow for the differential of take-up speed.

The drawings show a clutch on both mat and film take-up spool for illustration; however, in practice a clutch should be on one or the other of the two spools only, depending on the pulley ratio employed.

It is also noted that a compensated factor for take-up speed is inherent within the wind of the materials on the processing spool in that in the embodiment as shown the film is on an outer diameter on the processing reel 15 and the mat is on an inner diameter so that when unspooled the film will exhibit a longer length than the mat per rotation of the processing spool. This in essence creates a compensation for the greater thickness of the mat but is still insufficient to eliminate the necessity to employ a slip clutch arrangement.

In the event that mat material of similar thickness to the film material is employed the film would have a greater rate of diameter increase on spool 24 than the mat in whcih case the clutch assembly, as shown in FIG. 4, would be placed on film spool 23 providing both were driven by the same belt drive ratios. In either event the clutch assembly functions to compensate for the difference of diameter increase of one of the spools relative to the other to allow for tight linear travel of the materials through the drying chambers.

The clutch illustrated employs a shaft 55 mounted on the spool having on one end a clutch plate 56. A similar clutch plate 57 is mounted juxtaposed clutch plate 56 on a shaft 59 upon which is also mounted the drive sheave. A spring mechanism 60 is arranged to spring bias clutch plate 57 against clutch plate 56 to function as a yieldable or slip torque conductor to shaft 55.

The hot air manifold 28 comprises a pump 62 which forces air through a heating system 63. The air then travels through air intake manifold 64 through drying chamber C where the stretches of mat extended between the respective guide rollers 34, 40, 41, 42, and 43 cause adequate drying of the mat material. The air is then passed through a baffle chamber 65 to manifold D through the film stretch between rollers 33, 35, 36, 37, and 38 and is thence passed to an exhaust manifold 66 of exhaust manifold 29 and which is assisted by an exhaust pump 67. In this configuration the hottest accumulation of dry air occurs in the mat drying chamber C whereafter the cooler and somewhat more moist air is transported to film chamber D to cause drying of the film within the chamber. The mat material as previously stated has been impregnated with developing solution while the film only accumulates the developing solution by contact with the mat. For this reason plus the thicker and more absorbent characteristic of the mat, the mat carries more moisture than the film and hence requires an ambient environment of greater liquid absorption capabilities than the film in order to be completely dried within the same time interval. The airflow system of this arrangement follows from one chamber to the other in sequential order in such a way as to substantially equalize the drying time required for each of the materials even though one requires greater drying capacity than the other.

On the top portion of cabinet A the two guide rollers 42 and 37 which are mounted relatively close together disseminate the film and mat in opposite directions adjacent the top of housing A in stretches to their respective guide rollers 43 and 38. The stretches of film and mat are viewable through viewers, as seen in FIG. 5, comprising an aperture 70 formed in the top of housing A overlying the stretch of photographic material. A light source 71 is mounted within the chamber and is provided with a reflector 72 which disseminates the light in a reflected pattern equally to all areas underneath the aperture. By this arrangement the backlighting of the film allows the film to be viewed due to its transparency and the light transmission from the light system to the film or the mat as the case may be. Reflector 72 is arranged in alignment with the film so that it affords minimal obstruction to airflow through the chambers due to the fact that the principal airflow stream is aligned parallel with the broad face of the reflector. Thus, it can be seen that viewing can be continuously afforded during the drying transport of film and mat. If there are any irregularities or problems the machine can be stopped and corrected during the process in that continuous monitoring is afforded during the drying interval.

It can be seen that in operation, therefore, a magazine carrying a film processing spool 15 or the processing spool 15 itself can be mounted within the apparatus, and thereafter film 30 and mat 31 are separated and whereafter the two materials are travelled in opposite directions through separate manifolds and thence to a position within their manifolds to travel again in opposite directions past side-by-side viewing stations to the respective take-up spools. The side-by-side viewing which the system atfords allows a comparative reading during drying to check densities of the two materials, so that a comparative monitoring is obtainable. At the same time the drying afforded by the drying system allows both the film and the mat to be dried at equal rates, even though the fluid density within the mat is substantially higher than in the film. The clutch arrangement provides means wherein the film and the mat both will be retained in straight stretches and tight wind during their travel, even though the diameter build-up on one of the spools is substantially greater than the other.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the spirit of the invention as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mechanism for drying photographic material of the type having photographic film with an emulsion side adapted to create a latent image when exposed to light and a mat having a developing solution impregnated within an emulsion side of the mat in which development of the latent image on the film is caused by action of the developer carried by the mat when an intimate contact between the emulsion of the photographic film and the emulsion of the mat is effected by the combined spooling vunder pressure of the two materials on a processing spool,

comprising first spooling means positioned to track the mat and spool the mat on said spooling means, second spooling means positioned to track the film and spool the film on said second spooling means, first air chamber adapted to receive a length of mat as it is tracked from the processing spool onto said first take-up spool, a second air chamber positioned to receive a length of said film as it is tracked between said processing spool and said second take-up spool, and means to force hot dry air into said first chamber and thence from said first chamber into said second chamber.

2. A mechanism for drying photographic material of the type having photographic film with an emulsion side adapted to create a latent image when exposed to light and a mat having a developing solution impregnated within an emulsion side of the mat in which development of the latent image on the film is caused by action of the developer carried by the mat when an intimate contact between the emulsion of the photographic film and the emulsion of the mat is effected by the combined spooling under pressure of the two materials on a processing spool, comprising a pairof closely spaced guide spools, means mounting said processing spools to track the film and mat between the two guide spools with the film passing over one of said guide spools and the mat passing over the other one of said guide spools, whereby the film and mat are tracked in opposite directions, a film take-up reel mounted to receive the film from its guide spool, a mat take-up spool mounted to receive film from said mat guide spool, means to rotate said film and mat take-up spools to cause the film and mat to be unspooled from the processing spool onto said take-up reels, one of said take-up spools being yieldably driven relative to the other to allow the film and mat to be reeled under tension onto the respective take-up spools, means to force hot air over the stretch of film extending from the guide spool to the film take-up spool, means to force hot air across the stretch of mat extending from said mat guide spool to said mat take-up spool, said mat drying means being provided with greater drying capacity than said film drying means, said film drying means having sufiicient drying capacity to dry the film during its travel through said chamber.

3. A mechanism for drying photographic material of the type having photographic film with an emulsion side adapted to create a latent image when exposed to light and a mat having a developing solution impregnated within an emulsion side of the mat in which development of the latent image on the film is caused by action of the developer carried by the mat when an intimate contact between the emulsion of the photographic film and the emulsion of the mat is effected by the combined spooling under pressure of the two materials on a processing spool, comprising first and second drying chambers, a film takeup reel mounted in said first drying chamber and a mat take-up reel mounted in said second drying chamber, means to mount said processing spool adjacent said first and second drying chambers, means to guide the film from said processing spool into said first drying chamber and onto said film take-up spool, means to guide the mat from r the processing spool into said chamber and onto said mat take-up spool, means to dry said film in said first chamber as the film passes onto said film take-up reel, means to dry said mat in said second chamber as said mat is reeled onto said mat take-up reel, the drying capacity of said mat drying means being substantially greater than the drying capacity of said film drying means, and means to rotate said film take-up and mat take-up reels to maintain the length of film and mat taught within said chambers.

4. A mechanism for drying photographic material of the type having photographic film with an emulsion side adapted to create a latent image when exposed to light and a mat having a developing solution impregnated within an emulsion side of the mat in which development of the latent image on the film is caused by action of the developer carried by the mat when an intimate contact between the emulsion of the photographic film and the emulsion of the mat is effected by the combined spooling under pressure of the two materials on a processing spool, comprising first and second drying chambers, a film take-up reel mounted in said first drying chamber and a mat take-up reel mounted in said second drying chamber, means to mount said processing spool adjacent said first and second drying chambers, means to guide the film from said processing spool into said first drying chamber and onto said film take-up spool, means to guide the mat from the processing spool into said chamber and onto said mat take-up spool, hot airflow generating means opening into said second chamber to pass hot airflow across the mat passing through said chamber and onto said mat take-up reel, and means to flow air from said second chamber and through said first chamber to dry film passing through said chamber and onto said film take-up spool and means to rotate said mat and film take-up spools.

5. A mechanism for drying photographic material of the type having photographic film with an emulsion side adapted to create a latent image when exposed to light and a mat having a developing solution impregnated within an emulsion side of the mat in which development of the latent image on the film is caused by action of the developer carried by the mat when an intimate contact between the emulsion of the photographic film and the emulsion of the mat is effected by the combined spooling under pressure of the two materials on a processing spool, comprising means mounting said processing spool for rotation, a pair of guide spools mounted for rotation in closely spaced apart relation, first and second drying chambers located in aligned position, each said guide spools being located within one of said two chambers at a location proximate the two proximate ends of said chambers, a first reeling spool mounted in said first chamber, a second reeling spool mounted in said second chamber, said mat adapted to pass from said processing spool over one of said guide spools into said first chamber and said film adapted to pass over a guide spool into said second chamber, means to guide said film in said first chamber over a plurality of stretches to said take-up spool, means to guide said mat in said second chamber over a plurality of stretches to said second take-up spool, means interjecting an airflow stream into said first and second chamber in which the airflow stream in said first chamber has a greater drying capacity than the airflow stream in said 15 F, L. BRAUN, Assistant Examiner.

8 second chamber, and means to rotate said first and second spools to cause spooling of the respective film and mat thereon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,992,989 3/1935 Burns 34155 2,797,625 7/1957 Pairbank 9513 2,804,811 9/1957 Fairbank et a1. 9513 2,930,302 3/1960 Tuttle 9589 3,041,952 7/1962 Schreck 9589 NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A MECHANISM FOR DRYING PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL OF THE TYPE HAVING PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM WITH AN EMULSION SIDE ADAPTED TO CREATE A LATENT IMAGE WHEN EXPOSED TO LIGHT AND A MAT HAVING A DEVELOPING SOLUTION IMPREGNATED WITHIN AN EMULSION SIDE OF THE MAT IN WHICH DEVELOPMENT OF THE LATENT IMAGE ON THE FILM IS CAUSED BY ACTION OF THE DEVELOPER CARRIED BY THE MAT WHEN AN INTIMATE CONTACT BETWEEN THE EMULSION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM AND THE EMULSION OF THE MAT IS EFFECTED BY THE COMBINED SPOOLING UNDER PRESSURE OF THE TWO MATERIALS ON A PROCESSING SPOOL, COMPRISING FIRST SPOOLING MEANS POSITIONED TO TRACK THE MAT AND SPOOL THE MAT ON SAID SPOOLING MEANS, SECOND SPOOLING MEANS POSITIONED TO TRACK THE FILM AND SPOOL THE FILM ON SAID SECOND SPOOLING MEANS, FIRST AIR CHAMBER ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A LENGTH OF MAT AS IT IS TRACKED FROM THE PROCESSING SPOOL ONTO SAID FIRST TAKE-UP SPOOL, A SECOND AIR CHAMBER POSITIONED TO RECEIVE A LENGTH OF SAID FILM AS IT IS TRACKED BETWEEN SAID PROCESSING SPOOL AND SAID SECOND TAKE-UP SPOOL, AND MEANS TO FORCE HOT DRY AIR INTO SAID FIRST CHAMBER AND THENCE FROM SAID FIRST CHAMBER INTO SAID SECOND CHAMBER. 